The Musician's Life

Here's a new video I just shot for the online piano instruction site www.pianolessonsonline.com. It features some cool way to decorate major chords using the 9th. The basic idea behind this piano lesson is to give a player some new ideas when they see basic piano chords in a chord chart.

Instead of just playing triads the whole time there are lots of simple ways of creating variations. This provides some different textures and definitely cooler sounds than the plain old triad approach.

Here is another video lesson I just shot. In this particular video lesson I feature a lick by the very famous jazz piano player Bill Evans. I hope you enjoy this video. Shooting these jazz piano lessons has been a great way to share with the community. I hope to teach you all piano in my chicago piano lessons studio very soon.

Here's another free jazz lesson I just made. This one was shot in my Chicago Piano Lessons studio. Hope you enjoy and I get to teach you soon. There are a few slots still open for private lessons. Please contact me today to get started.

Here's a free lesson I just shot for the website www.freejazzlessons.com I really go into depth on how to play rootless jazz piano chords and voicings behind a soloist. There's some cool chords and rhythms in there. I'm excited to share it with friends in Chicago and around the world!

This video lesson combines 2 of my favorite styles. Jazz and Blues. I even throw in a couple gospel chords in there for good measure too! If you're interested in learning more about this style o any other jazz… Read more

Here's another free video piano lesson I just made for the site freejazzlessons.com. In this video I teach you how to play a lick that jazz pianist Barry Harris played over the standard "Green Dolphin" Street. There's some awesome bebop vocabulary in there. Enjoy!

This video is a lesson on how to play a turnaround lick. Turnarounds are very common in jazz and this lick and can be used on lots and lots of tunes. Barry Harris made this particular lick idea famous. Enjoy the free lesson!

When I graduated Berklee in 20002 they had a great career assistance program in place. This program allowed recent grads to get in touch with successful musicians who were living in the city the recent graduate was planning on moving to.

I didn't know very much about Chicago nor did I know much about the music business here. I just knew I wanted to be there. I received many great tips along the way about the best neighborhoods to live in, restaurants to eat at, how to avoid parking… Read more

Many future piano students are overwhelmed by finding the right piano teacher.
Finding a teacher that understands your individual goals and can help you achieve them can seem very difficult. Here is just a few tips to assist you in selecting the best piano teacher for you.

1. Choose a teacher with lots of professional performance experience.

If you study with a teacher who has very little experience in the real world of performance they are teaching based off of what they think "may" work. On… Read more

Hey Friends,
Just a quick note. I have moved my Chicago Piano Lessons Studio to the Old Irving Neighborhood in Chicago. I am super excited by the new studio set up. It really is a dream come true. The piano studio is still easily accesible by the Blue Line and 90/94. I look forward to continuing to offer the highest quality piano lessons in my new spot. Thanks!